Tight ends coach TC McCartney (8.20.23)
Would you agree with the statement that David’s (Njoku) been open all summer?
“All summer? Did Dave say that? I agree with that. I’ll give him that one.”
Why do you think that is?
“He’s put a lot of work in. He’s big, he’s fast. He’s put a lot of work in. He’s had multiple years in this offense. I think he understands what we’re trying to do, so it’s been good. It’s been good. He’s been getting better and better, so love to see that.
What do you think Jordan’s (Akins) going to add to that room?
“Jordan is a dynamic player. He’s got elite hands. He can do something when he catches the ball, so I think that gives us a different element. It adds to our room with the guys we do have already.”
When I talked to him (Akins), he was excited about maybe being able to go downfield more than he has in the past. You think he’s got the skill set to do that?
“Oh, absolutely. There isn’t anything in the receiving world that he can’t do, as far as from the tight end position goes. He’s a super dynamic player.”
David talked about how he’s trying to work on a little bit of everything this year, because he’s been in here for so long for you. What are you looking for? What do you think that he’s been focusing on to take that next leap this year?
“Again, I’ve said it before here, the tight end position, you have to focus on everything from route running to pass blocking to run blocking. He’s got to do it all. We can’t really focus in one thing. But if I were to give you one thing, I would say he really worked hard in his route running. He’s excited to catch some passes for some touchdowns.”
He seemed to be one of the guys Deshaun (Watson) really connected with over those last five or six games. How much have you seen just a growth from that to now in terms of the connection, that kind of that natural connection?
“Yeah, they built that at the end of last year and then moving into this offseason. I know they worked out together and any time you have a relationship with the guys on your team, it’s important, especially the quarterback. So we’ve seen it. I hope to continue to see it as we move into the regular season.”
Did they come back with some extra resolve, the tight ends, after maybe not having a couple of practices that they hoped to have?
“I think anytime you don’t do exactly what you want to happen, there’s a little extra resolve there. But day-to-day training camp, there’s ups and downs and so we just try and come be the same person every day and work as hard as we can every day, to be honest.”
David is bigger, it looks like. Was that like something you guys talked about or did he just do that?
“I think that he just works out really hard. We didn’t talk about him getting bigger at all. But his weight is right where he needs to be, and he’s still fast. So as big as you can be and as fast as you can be, that’s what I like to see.”
We talk about the versatility in all these rooms. For tight ends, what does versatility create in this offense for you guys?
“I think it allows you to do a ton of different things just overall, scheme-wise. You can present a bunch of different looks to the defense. Whether it looks like there’s three receivers in or it looks like there’s two backs in, we can be the ones to control that when we’re just in the game by ourselves.”
Are you optimistic that Harrison’s (Bryant) going to be able to be back and is missed time going to hurt him?
“Harrison’s one of the smartest players we have and he’s also puts in the work, whatever he can do. So of course, there will be an adjustment, but when he’s back, he’ll be ready to go. I’ll be confident he’s ready to go.”
# # #
***Visit the Browns Media Center for materials provided by the Browns communications department, including media schedules, press releases, quotes, photos, media guides, rosters, depth charts and more.***